I decided to put some small golden rod tubing down the inside of tail boom to run the rudder push rod through. This should completely resolve the binding problem...I hope. I also discoverd my one 3000/30c battery is garbage so I had to make a harness to run two 2200/40c's in parallel....that worked. It'll work until I can order a couple new 3000/30c's. Once the batteries get here, I gotta figure out a battery holder system that will give the correct CG.

Golden rod tube didn't correct the problem (but it did do what it was supposed to do). That leaves the gyro and servo as suspect......let the FUN begin. Tomorrow, I'll install my other G500T gyro. If that doesn't work, then the servo gets changed out. Maybe it's the 4 blade tail rotor? LMAO....I love a challenge.

Rick....
I went through this bird with a fine tooth comb. The problem was "none of the above" on the tail control issues. I pulled the head and tail 4bladed system and replaced it with stock head and tail. Balanced the blades to zero vibration (man that thing is smooth). I did two test hovers, the first wasn't that impressive. After doing multiple pitch, throttle, gyro, and swash adjustments, I finally hit paydirt on the second hover and it's CLOSE to being perfect but still needs minor adjustments. Dunno about that 4 blade system and the affects it has on other components like the rudder servo, motor amp draw, and on and on. I still have quite a bit of work to do on it, so it's not even close to being ready for a video. I think it's gonna be awsome when I finally get everything nailed down.

Vic,
With a 4 blade tail rotor, you may need a servo with more torque. Just thinking out loud.

You may be right. It works fine as stock until you stick it in a heavy fuselage....then it goes bonkers. Right now with the stock head and tail, it's almost where my 206 was...a decient flyer. One day at a time I guess. Maybe I need a 18g analog servo back there instead of a digital. Onward......

it AMAZES me

reading back to the very beginning of this thread
how we were fascinated by the fact the we
managed to lift a co-axial off the ground.
Then, how we marveled at holding a CP
within a square two foot by side

Dave....did some research. A lot of full scale MD500's have a 4 blade head, but only a 2 blade tail......I can do that.

I pulled the 4 bladed head, there's always been a problem with the pitch rods being a tad short out of the box. I went through my parts bin, and pulled 4 longer push rods and installed them on the 4 blade head, now the trick is to adjust all push rods to exactly the same length....it'll be good to go. Tomorrow if all goes well, I'll be installing the lights, I'm about satisfied how it performs in a hover in the basement. If it hovers good in the basement, it's always better outside in open air.

Looking at a completion time of Wed-Fri.....if I put the 4 blade head back on, it'll be Friday cause it'll take time to balance and tune it.

Did a LOT of work in fitting the heli frame into the fuse, all the lighting system is installed. I did a test hop outside because we actually had good enough weather to do it. It flew pretty good except I noticed the hor/vert stab vibrating pretty good and so were the skids. I brought it back in and re balanced the main blades. I now have ZERO vibration through the fuselage....none at all. I'm super impressed with how smooth it is. The only thing the build is lacking for completion is installing the windows and some other little things. Since it's perfect with the stock head and tail rotors, I cant see putting the 4 blade head on at this time. If it aint broke....dont fix it. What I'll do it put the 4 blade head on my other 450 pro and get it dialed in. When I get it perfect, then I can put it on the MD500.

Excellent Vic..........hope ya got some pics coming. I'm still fabicating wood work for this little 206...... my balsa templates worked pretty good.....now transfered to the ply......I'll see how that goes today.
Carry on Amigo

Need to get some stuff...out of epoxy, super glue, #11 blades, etc. I should have this thing completed tonight I hope, then I'll start working on that 4 blade head. Next week, I need to order two 3000/30c's to power this bird. Right now I'm using two 2200/40c's on a parallel harness which works but it's UGLY. The right battery cleans the nose right up, and the CG can have a FINAL adjustment. I made a stinger to keep that tail off the ground by digging up an old fly bar. Cut and bent, then installed....it does the job. Pics comming when I'm not over loaded with wife/daughter/kids and dogs.

Well...I put the 4 blade head on the other 450 pro. I did a decient job setting the push rods. I used a digital caliper and dialed them in at 54.95mm, and I didn't have to make a tracking adjustment, the head ran up smooth and the bird flew with no indications of vibration. I need to weigh each blade and get them all the exact same weight, then I think the 4 blade head will be ready to install on the MD500E without to much trouble.

Sometimes...ya just gotta get out of here too. We had an exceptional day, so I took the Harley for a 10mi spin, I just got back. It was nice to get back on the horse after all the crappy days we had. Even cleaned the dog pen....